Pendulum swings to Parker, thanks to Felder

The fight for the Senate majority has turned the fortunes of incumbent Sen. Kevin Parker, who is, at least for the moment, facing a three-way primary.

For the past 6-7 months, Parker’s been feeling the heat from NYC Councilman Kendall Stewart, who announced that he wanted to run for senate last October and it looked as if the local party establishment was ready to jump off the Parker bandwagon in support of Stewart. (for a summary of what’s transpired, see the Politicker’s posts on it.)

Now, two factors are turning the tide for Parker: 1) the recent slush-fund scandal that has hit two of Stewart’s staffers, and most importantly, 2) the entry of Democratic City Councilman Simcha Felder 10 days ago.

Felder has close ties with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has provided significant support to Sen. Joseph Bruno and it has been widely rumored in Democratic circles that if he won the office, Felder would switch parties or conference with the Republicans. Parker even said as much on the record. Felder has denied such speculation, but regardless, it has prompted reaction by local Democratic leaders in support of incumbent Parker.

Here’s why: The senate district is about 30% orthodox Jewish, which means that in a two-way race, a Jewish candidate wouldn’t be much of a threat. But Felder could win in a race against two candidates splitting the black vote. And if it is even remotely possible that the candidate could end up flipping parties, better to go with what you know.

On Sunday, there will be a meeting of local party leaders and elected officials called by Congresswoman Yvette Clark to discuss endorsement, and it is predicted that support will come out in favor of Parker, according to someone close to the process. And if that is the case, Stewart will be pressured to drop out.

Kings County Democratic Party Chair and Assemblyman Vito Lopez appeared to be leaning toward Stewart because his local party was moving in that direction. But with these recent developments, Lopez said he will support the candidate that his party supports.

“I’m support of coming together with local leaders in order to work on that one candidate that will win for the African American community.”

Parker said that he has received assurances from Lopez for support, and received it even before Felder’s decision to enter the race.

Update: Eric Kuo, a spokesman for Felder wrote in with the following note: “The claim that Simcha Felder and Joe Bruno have ‘close ties’ is incorrect. Simcha has never had a conversation with Joe Bruno before, let alone a conversation about ‘conferencing with the republicans.'”